As we are typing this, we are currently sitting on a comfy
leather couch in a little pub called The Prince of Teck. Our beers and
breakfasts have been ordered, so all is now well. But it took a bit to get here.
Our adventure started off way too early on Wednesday. Our cat, Andromeda, woke us up with some
forced loving and yelling, she knew something was up. Sarah was so anxious she shaking and felt
sick to her stomach. Not a great start!
Our flight did not board until 4:35pm, so we had a lot of
time to kill. Imagine, the trip of a
lifetime, your cat wakes you up at 3am, and you have already pretty much
prepared everything. It was the longest
day ever, and it’s not over. More on
that later.
With the season of travel and the added security measures in
place, we decided to head up to the airport earlier than previously
planned. We made it through security
surprisingly quickly and found a nice little Mexican Grille to snack on chips
and salsa and enjoy a few pints before the flight.
The airplane was TINY!
We were only going from Baltimore to NYC, so it didn’t take a large
plane. Once at JFK, we had a short
layover. Since we had not yet had
dinner, we wanted something to eat. We
found a Buffalo Wild Wings right by the gate, but they were packed. By the time we were ready to order, we were
informed that the kitchen was running behind.
So instead, Ty found a little sandwich and Sarah got a side of veggies (surprise,
surprise). We
almost missed our flights due to issues with our new debit cards, but luckily,
we made it in time.
What a flight! We
somehow made it onto the limousine of airplanes as petty commoners. I mean, this plane had fancy mood lighting,
free drinks, yes even alcohol. And, to
top it all off, they fed us well! The
flight attendants were working their tails off!
Though the creature comforts were nice, we could NOT
SLEEP! Ty had the window seat and Sarah
was stuck in the middle. It really
worked out better since the person in front of Sarah decided to recline fully
the entire time and the person behind was very aggressive with each move he
made. Luckily, Sarah had a pretty young
fellow next to her, so she wasn’t too squished.
Hot chocolate, tea, coffee, plus a little bit of fruit and yogurt were
served in cute little boxes. Sarah
decided to go with tea opposed to her normal coffee. We are on our way to England after all. It was tasty!
Upon arrival to Heathrow, we were excited to meet our driver
who would hold up our names on a sign.
Okay, if this doesn’t scream HIGH CLASS to a girl from Lorain Ohio, I
don’t know what does….oh yeah, some Champagne, maybe….just saying. Our excitement was dashed, however due to the
fact that we had to stand in a ginormous long line to get through customs. It’s 2:45am Eastern Time and 7:45am in the
UK. Why are so many people randomly
traveling on a Wednesday morning from one country to the next?! We are freaking out, okay, more like Sarah is
freaking out about not meeting the driver in time. We only have 90 minutes from our landing to
meet our driver. While that may sound
like plenty of time, it’s not when there are so many crowds in front of
you. Thankfully, we make it to the
driver and guess what? We end up waiting
for at least 20 more minutes for three people who had the same Groupon to make
it, who sadly, had to make their own way to their hotel at their own expense. L
The drive from the airport to the hotel is
open-eyeing(?). We thought that people
in MD and DC drove aggressively, but MAN, we got jostled around and were a
little leery many times. (We’re pretty
sure that in our experience in London, many of the public transportation vehicles
bump each other several times a day.)
When we do reach the hotel, we cannot completely check into
our room because to us, it should be the middle of the night, but to the lovely
citizens of the UK, it is just a new morning and they are preparing for the new
guests. We are hungry and have been up
for at least 24 hours, so it’s time for a good ole fashioned English
breakfast. On the plane, we ate at about
5:00am London time and we did not get to the hotel until 10:30. We are HANGRY! We find out that there is a little pub/café right
around the corner from the hotel, so we decide to give it a try. We order beers (they are a pub and it’s
basically night time for us ), Ty orders a traditional breakfast and we all
know what Sarah wants…egg whites. I’ll
spare you the details, but we end up having a good time. By the way, if you want your beverage before
the meal is brought out, you have to say so unless you are in a bar. People in Europe stay at tables in cafes and
restaurants for hours. ( Sorry, Josh, you can’t flip those tables without a lot
of charm J)
After “breakfast” we decide to go exploring around the city
to really wrap our heads around the geography.
Sarah is a geography nerd and has been pouring over maps for weeks in
research, but MAN, London is a city which does not AT ALL fit the grid system
with which this Midwestern girl was born.
We decide to purchase a two-day bus pass so that we can see the city at
its fullest for a decent price. The bus
system is not as easy as people tell you.
Sarah can work the metro in DC like a pro, but this system is weird! We end up on loops upon loops, but we are
patient with the system and each other, so we get through. Ty just wants to get back and set up the
room, but the bus goes on and on and we are so far from the hotel!!
When we finally navigate our way back ( after Sarah has a
funny story about having to use the restroom where none were found except for a
posh spot ) to the hotel, we have a newly revitalized energy. It’s Thursday night ( 8:30 by the way ) and
we have spotted locals hanging out all through our travels and were very
jealous we did not get to experience that, so we regrouped and headed to a very
near pub which was packed with local football fans. France was playing Germany and it was SO
exciting! We started talking with the regulars who were a little younger than
us, but very nice. We ended up having
the LONGEST, but best time. We look
forward to what tomorrow brings J
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